Stars Of Darkness
by Madlordj
Summary: A young boys adventure in the clone wars that changed so many but will it change him only time will tell. This is my first attempt at a story and summary so I hope you like it. Rated T just to be safe. The romance will eventually develop later in the story.
1. Chapter 1 - Epilogue

Author note. This is is no the normal length of the chapter this is just because this is just an epilogue for the story. Also as i said in the summary this is my first story and the romance is much latter in the story so any one that is loking for that will be wating for a while. I will also try to keep this as close to the cannon as posible but I may drift from time to time to fit the story better.

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The planet Talie was a pre hyper-drive world in the star sistem Lone, so named beacuse there was only one planet orbiting the star. Talie was an Terra class 5 planet that had a fast evolving highly inteligent species named the Tal, although the Tal had not invented hyper-drive technology, or sub-light for that matter, Talie was a very well known trade planet.

As the Tal produced all sorts of manufacterd good and mined many rare resorse, that where hard to come by on many other planets. Unfortantly for the enhabitants of Talie this would be there down fall as there inteligets alowed them to quickly develop huge factory citys with smog that would blot out the sun and turn the ocean black with pollution. They were very quickly bleeding the planet dry of all its resorses, and hevily pollution the seas and skys to the point it was becoming an uninhabital barren world with snaking tunnels that went on for miles in every derection, meaning that one was not truly steping on solid grownd when on the planets surface.

Seeing this problem the Jedi council warned the Tal of there inpending down fall and pleaded that they try to improve the planets enviroment befor it was too late, but the Tal ignored this warning and soon the planet became too toxic for many of the indigenous species and finaly the Tal themselves. The Tal sent messages requesting help from may of the tradeing companys and nearby systems to evacuate the planet, to witch many ether declined or never answered giving the excuse that it would be too costly to mount such a venture without substantial compensation that the the Tal just didn't have.

They finaly turned to the Jedi who agreed to help, after ingnoring the Tals please for help, sending any nearby Jedi to begin the relocation of the Tal to the core worlds but they only managed to save 2 thousand from the original population of 12 billion, many of these where orphan children that where taken, by the Jedi, to later be hopefully adopted by a famly.

One such child was Jin Talan who was adopted by a mandalorian mercenarie couple seeking to retire on the planet mandalore.


	2. Chapter 2 - A surprise visit

**5 standerd coruscant years later.**

"JIN HARBINGER COME HERE THIS INSTANT" Jin's mother bellowed from downstairs. Jin knew what she wanted, as it was the same every time. Reluctantly Jin descended down the stairs with heavy feet. stopping at the bottom he yelled in reply "WHAT" to which his mother voice called back sounding heavily annoyed but not angry " KITCHIN NOW". This had not been the first trip to said kitchin, for the lecture he knew was coming, although it had been a more consistent reason of late then in previous years, he walked through the curtained doorway to see his mother standing at the opposite side to the room. She was wearing her usual frock cardigan combo and with flats but unlike most of those he had seen on mandalore, she still had some of her merc armor on witch added edge to an otherwise smooth out line. The kitchin was more of a corridor than a room with gray walls and long tube light set into the ceiling, he was use to seeing in may Mandalorian buildings, it still had all of the necessities the a home would need like flash washer, food rehydrator, steam washer and garbage compactor.

He face his mother and awaited what he knew was going to be a long lecture. He let out a low sigh which was probably a mistake as his mothers face grew more annoyed but just as he believed she was going to explode with the usual rhetoric, about how it was wrong and that he should stop causing trouble at his age and so on, she stopped closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Opening them again she put on a warm smile and said with only what could be said as a motherly warmth to her words "why can't you just stay in school it's not like it's hard and every one has to do it". Replying with a hint more annoyance that he wanted to show in his voice "that's the problem it's not hard especially for me and not everyone has to what about all of those snobby better then you children that are home schooled". replying in a calmer voice that he was expecting "what about your-" he quickly interrupted her, which normally he would have be shouted at for, but again she just took another deep breath evidently trying to stay calm. " I dont have any friends as there all jealous and think i'm different" he said ending in a frown. His mothers face saddened but didn't lose its warm smile.

It had been hard for a Tal to grow up far from a home he never knew on a world where, although there were many different alien species on mandalore, was always on his own alway different, he was probably the only Tal on the planet. This could, at times, become too much for the small Tal boy and it wasn't like he was trying to be smarter and taller than everyone else in the class. All of which were at the age of 5 standard coruscant years which he thought was true, he had lived for 5 years but the Tal aged about 2x faster then most species meaning he was actually he was 10 mentally and physically. This would mean he was always smarter, faster and stronger the other kids his age. This made making friends hard as he was either too smart or too strong for him to be able to play with them. School policy also meant he couldn't play with or even talk to the older students to even try to make friends with them, so when he finish his school work he just hoped the school fence and went home to his room.

Puting on what he hoped was a brave smile, he went to apologise to his mother but stopped when his dad walked into the room, he was wearing his usual suit, again like his mother he had pieces of his old armor on. Jin thought it odd that he was home so early and even more so when he noticed that he wore a large frown, the larges he had seen his dad make in a long time. "Jin can i speak with your mother alone please" his dad said having the usually commanding tone, he had come to associate his father, but it had almost been overcome with a sadness that made his mind race. Had he cased his father to be this way, it wasn't that bad him skipping school he always did the work they asked and he hadn't broken anything in years so it couldn't be that. Stealing himself, Jin went to ask why his dad was so sad, but the look in his father's eyes said more than a thousand words.

So slowly and reluctantly Jin when back to his room, feeling his father's sadness overwhelm him he did that thing he always did when he was sad. Looking over to the desk in his room to what anyone else would have called rubbish or spare parts, he sat down and began to assemble his dads old DE-10. As he cleaned and reassembled the DE-10 he felt his mind clear and began to feel a some what other worldly calm come other him. Not thinking as he added the last peace to the pistol, he hadn't noticed the robed figure enter the room but sensed their presence instead.

It took him awhile for him to come out of his daze and to turn and stare at the presence at his door. The man lowered his hood didn't lower his hood but spook with a calm voice that seem to ease Jins fears "my name is Qui-Gon Jinn and i have come to take you to the jedi temple on coruscant to begin you jedi training". This was followed by silence from both but getting the feeling it he was just going to stand there for eternity if he didn't say something he decided to as an obvious question "why?", though a simple question the jedi seemed to consider his answer but finally deciding he simply said "patience young one all will be revealed in time" and with that he left the room.

Although the strangest and most unexpected part of his short life he some how felt no injustice about leaving his family behind almost like something was guiding him in some way and giving him the feeling that he was on the right path, so he packed some spare clothes he had into a bag feeling that he was not going to anything else he went to leave the room. Something didn't feel right he felt naked for some reason, stopping in his tracks he stood and pondered what is was until his eyes caught his dads old weapon and holster. Moving over to them in one quick motion that his mother had taught him only a month before he had the pistol in the holster and around his waist and left the room.

As Jin descended the stairs he could hear his mother sobbing and my father trying to comfort her, this made some of his resolve fall away, feeling like a ton of dura concrete hit him as all his emotions seem to hit him at once, he ran to his parents for one last long embrace. Leaving the house for the last time his father broke the silence that had descended upon the family speaking the fue words he knew in mando "aliit hailir te runi" and with that he turned from the home and family and walked with the Jedi towards the star port.


	3. Chapter 3

**2** **standard coruscant months** **later**

 **Antarian ranger HQ. Ranger general Dire Kahn.** **Generals** **office on** **Coruscant** **.**

Dire was accustomed to surprises, as they seemed to be part of the job description as a rangers, now not much surprised him but today had. Most of that surprise came from the young man in front of him, he was of slight build though to say he was not strong was probably wrong. His skin was dark red; he had large black eyes and long pointed ears. His skin was starting to scale like most Tal at his age, he almost resembled a Kaleesh. He was in a modified jedi robe with what appeared to be mandalorian armor and a DE-10 at his hip where usually you saw a light saber and on the other side a small sono saber.

"What's ya name boy" I asked in a monotone voice, having read his report I knew his name but decided to asked anyway. **"** **Jin Calderian"** he replied calmly but I could detect an underlining of irritation as expected. "When you speak to me you will always answer with sir or general Kahn is that clear" I replied monotone again "did they not teach you how to respect your superiors, when you were with the jedi order" his reply was brimming with sarcasm **"no"** "no what" **"no sir"** " that's better. Now as i understand it you were a somewhat of an oddity in the jedi order, as the age you were accepted was much older than the norm yes."he nodded "also that you are only a minor force sensitive and wouldn't have been accepted under normal circumstances is that correct" he replied was short and with forced nonchalance **" yes, but theses days normal** **circumstance** **are** **hard to come by** **are** **they** **not".** This was true, as the war had be going for a year now and the jedi were losing more and more to the war that needed to be replaced quickly. "True but even so it is still quite the oddity that you were accepted at all. but this matters little now as the jedi council has determined that you are to become a ranger." i paused to gage his reaction. I could tell he was annoyance but what I didn't expect to see was the surprise look on his face." as of such you are going to be tested to see if you have what it takes to be a ranger with the other new recruits" he looked annoyed even more so than before. **" I thought that because of me jedi** **training I** **wo..."** "would be give special treatment, that we'd let you straight in" i interrupted talking down to him " no that is not the case. Being a ranger is worlds apart from being a jedi youngling and as such you will be tested like everyone else got that recruit" **"yes"** "yes what" **"yes sir"** "that's better now ranger markson will take you to get a uniform and then to the training hall. Dismissed". This is going to be interesting to say the least.

 **Training** **hall. Jin Calderian.**

As I walked into the large hall it looked like just an ordinary room nothing special, nothing on any surface apart from some lights set into the ceiling. I was escorted by my babysitter, markson i think his name was, to a group of 49 in the center, they consisted of a variant of species there was even an Echani and a wookie two species who barely left their home planets, but whatever the species they were all wearing the same drab gray one fits all uniform. As i got closer i noticed that like me they had been allowed to customize it in some way, some had parts of clone armor others had panted small decals on the sleeves. What peaked my interest was all of the different weapons they had ranging from just knives to the standard DC-15 and DC-15A blaster rifle. "now that the last recruit has entered the training hall we can begin" a voice, that sounded like the 'nuhun' of a general I was just with, Came over the pa "right to begin with we'll be testing speed and reaction time, but with all test survival will also be tested" this made some ,including me ,react in shock because as soon as he stopped speaking the floor started to fall away. Everybody scattered only for more floor tiles to fall away, like our weight was causing them to fall. I watched as a human had decided to stop to catch his breath only for them to vanish into the air. **"oof"** "watch wher..." said an Nautolan, luckily i was quicker to my feet but only just as the tile we had landed on fell with him still on it. There were few and fewer places to go. "five left" said an automated voice over the pa.

I fell, some pride wash over me as i fell replaced by pure terror as I was plunged into darkness only to be blinded seconds later, landing on what could only be described as a giant balloon. As my eyes adjusted to the room the I saw the other recruits were dusting themselves off with most moving over to a holo screen, to watch the remaining 4. Hesitating at first i joined them only for the Nautolan, the one i had ran into, to walk over to me. He skin was a deep green with black eyes similar to mine, his many letcha swaying as he walked. He was wearing the same uniform except he had ripped the sleeves and trouser legs off. "next time watch where you're going" his voice annoyed but also good natured like he was joking. **"** **i'll** **try to"** "what's your name Kaleesh" **"Jin but** **i'm** **not Kaleesh** **i'm** **Tal"** I answered calmly use to the mistake by now."Well Jin care to place a wager on who's going to win" he replied, with what could only be described as a swindlers grin on his face, I decided to play along as it couldn't hurt **"** **who's** **left"** "The wookey surprisingly light on its feet, the Echani to no one's surprise and the two Togruta." I decided that i was going to have some fun with him **" 20 creds on the wookey then .."** " Scarrow and that's fine by me cos you just lost" he said with a smirk as I heard a wookey wailing in the background. **"** **S** **o I have. Do** **you want them no.** **.."** "no need just some friendly betting" **"thanks"** "arr dont mention it, care for another how about which twin" he was cut off by two scream, of said twins, in the distance. he quickly turned and said to who i guessed was the human named David, "fork it over David 5 creds if i'm right" " **F** **ine but how was i to know the sisters would just run into each other** " he said with annoyance while handing over the creds "stop griping and pay up" only for the Echani to land behind Scarrow. David quickly snatched back the creds "hay you bet..." **"yes but she** **didn't** **win so bets off"** "hey just because none of us won ..." he was cut off by general Kahn "yes none of you won but all of you passed except David, Anthony, Ton-Ton, Comilla and Tommy you failed and your training ends here collect you things and follow Markson out of my sight" silence fell across the room as they left. "Congratulations to you for passing and all that, but the next test starts now" **"what is the test about this time"** i asked to which he just stared at me **"sir"** i added quickly "the next test" he glared at me some more than looked over the others "is endurance so get moving as it's a long from the top". The wookey made some noises that i guessed was speech as the general answered "the top of the base of course" it then dawned on me that we had just fallen down a very long way and he was expecting us to get back to the top. "oh and the turbo lift is broken so you'll have to use the stairs now get a move on recruits MOVE MOVE MOVE"


End file.
